Half of all proceeds will go to benefit Willow Springs Boys Ranch and Wes Welker's 83 Foundation. Jeff is a good friend of the ranch and has a big heart for young people. WSBR is grateful for people like Jeff Wood finding creative ways to help fund the mission of WSBR. Download your copy of RAW WOOD, get some awesome music to listen to, and benefit WSBR and the 83 Foundation all at the same time.

We often miss messages. Even with all the technology, we miss phone calls, voice messages, email, and directions that had we received them, our life would have been so much better. We miss messages because we are often all wrapped up in other things.

I was waiting in the lobby last night for Jeannie as she went back to the car for our tickets. I was in conversation with a friend. She said she tapped me on the shoulder, and said "I have your ticket and I am going on inside with the girls. She said I look right at her, but I never saw her or heard her. Frightening. I spent the next 20 minutes walking all around the area and even to the parking lot looking for her. Even though I was in the building, I almost lost my seat for the program. How often do I do that with God. More often than I would like to admit.

The same is true about the message of Christ. The message is one that we can't afford to miss. How often do we look right at the Message and miss it?

I am use to reading about the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke. I am use to seeing Carolers in the Mall, seeing a Nativity Scene, or hearing the Christmas Message at church. This morning, I ran across it in an unexpected place...in the book of Isaiah. My prayer is that none of us will miss hearing or receiving the Christmas Message this year. Take time to read in Isaiah and discover or be re-reminded why we celebrate Christmas.

See, my servant will prosper;
he will be highly exalted.
But many were amazed when they saw him.
His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,
and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.
And he will startle many nations.
Kings will stand speechless in his presence.
For they will see what they had not been told;
they will understand what they had not heard about.

Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord 's presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected--
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God's paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man's grave.
But it was the Lord 's good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord 's good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Dear Friends and Family,

What a roller coaster ride our country has been on in 2008! Between the economy and the election we may be wondering what is next! I pray that as you celebrate this season of Christmas with your family you would reflect on how big God really is! He is bigger than politicians, he is bigger than your 401(K) and He is bigger than anything this life may throw at you! May you remember the blessings that He has given you this holiday season, here are a few of ours!

Sweet little Murphy is 15 months and has finally decided to walk, talk and get into everything! She is such a joy and has blessed our house so much this year! She still loves her mommy just about more than anything but will branch out to other family members occasionally. She has her own little language that cracks us up and leaves us guessing at what she wants but our home would not be complete without her!

Avery (5) started Pre-K in the fall and loves it! She has become so independent this year and her little mind is absorbing so much. She wants to know how to spell everything and next year may be writing this letter herself! She is making so many new friends and growing into such a compassionate young lady. She constantly is asking for prayer for a little kid that got hurt on the playground that day!

Ellie is 8 and in 2nd grade. She is loving school and has produced such a competitive spirit this year with her studies. She recently read 40 books in one day for a contest in school! Ellie is also our little prayer warrior! She has such a selfless heart and when faced with a challenge immediately goes to her knees for someone in need! She has also become quite the soccer star! Her team took 1st place for the second time this fall.

We are completely convinced that we could not have four children with out Mattie (11). She is the second mother that we could not live without! She dresses, changes, feeds and reads to her little sisters faithfully, many times without being asked. She is becoming such a beautiful young lady and God is growing her into the women He created her to be. It is a joy to watch her learn new things and work through challenges on her own.

Todd is extremely busy with camp, construction, fundraising, house parenting, and anything else that needs to be done around the ranch and camp! I (Jeannie) am constantly amazed at how much he can get done in a day! Even with the challenges of the Ranch and Camp we still love being out here with the boys and the groups that come to camp! God has been so faithful to us in 2008 and we are honored that he chose us to minister along side Him at the Ranch!

God has revealed so much of Himself to me in 2008! I have seen just a glimpse of His love for me! God is still God, regardless of economy, politics, illnesses, family crisis' or anything that might burden us! He is mighty to save and I am learning that more and more everyday! Our prayer for your family and ours this coming year is that we would never stop desiring more of Jesus! We wait expectantly for the New Year because we know that Jesus is there!

Merry Christmas!

The Vinsons

The Story of the Chihuahua and the Leopard

A lady takes her pet chihuahua with her on a safari vacation. Wandering too far one day the chihuahua gets lost in the bush, and soon encounters a very hungry looking leopard. The chihuahua realizes he's in trouble, but, noticing some fresh bones on the ground, he settles down to chew on them, with his back to the big cat. As the leopard is about to leap, the chihuahua smacks his lips and exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here."

The leopard stops mid-stride, and slinks away into the trees.

"Phew," says the leopard, "that was close - that evil little dog nearly had me."

A monkey nearby sees everything and thinks he'll win a favor by putting the stupid leopard straight. The chihuahua sees the monkey go after the leopard, and guesses he might be up to no good.

When the leopard hears the monkey's story he feels angry at being made a fool, and offers the monkey a ride back to see him exact his revenge.

The little dog sees them approaching and fears the worse.

Thinking quickly, the little dog turns his back, pretends not to notice them, and when the pair are within earshot says aloud, "Now where's that monkey got to? I sent him ages ago to bring me another leopard..."

~author unknown

WHAT SOME HAVE SAID ABOUT PROBLEM-SOLVING:

Learn to adjust yourself to the conditions you have to endure, but make a point of trying to alter or correct conditions so that they are most favorable to you.
~William Frederick Book

A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake. 
~Confucius 


Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. 
~Thomas Edison


The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. 
~Albert Einstein

Don't find fault. Find a remedy. ~Henry Ford

Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.
 ~Henry Ford

Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything.
~Billy Graham

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. 
~John C. Maxwell

WHY IS CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING IMPORTANT?

We will spend our lifetime facing problems and challenges in our own personal life, our education adn training, our marriage, with our own kids, and in our jobs.
It is not a question if problems will come; it is a matter of when. What matters most is how you handle these situations.

Critical Thinking and Problems solving is one of the most important and most used tool that you will pull out of your tool bag and use in life.
Your successes and failures will not tallied on a giant score board as wins or loses. Your measure of success is judged by how you handle these challenges when they come and visit you.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING:

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Matt 10:16

The Story of a Wise Ruling: 1 Kings 16:28

Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne. But the other woman said, No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours. The first said, No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine. Thus they spoke before the king.
Then the king said, The one says, This is my son that is alive, and your son is
dead; and the other says, No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.
And the king said, Bring me a sword. So a sword was brought before the king.
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half
to the other. Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because
her heart yearned for her son, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no
means put him to death. But the other said, He shall be neither mine nor yours;
divide him. Then the king answered and said, Give the living child to the first
woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother. And all Israel
heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the
king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

APPLICATION FOR LIFE:

1. Keep your eye on the ball.
Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.
~Henry Ford.

You will never overcome a problem by focusing on it. Focus on the solution.

2. Think Critically.
Doing the same things that you have always done will produce the same results.

3. Ask God for wisdom.
"....be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Matt 10:16

The OU Baseball Team came out for the fourth year to serve others at Willow Springs Boys Ranch. The team did a service project in the afternoon. Work included weedeating around ponds, and the boys homes, cleared trees, mowing, hauling off trash, setting railroad ties along trails, and cleaning up around some new construction. The Sooners ate dinner with the boys and staff of WSBR out at Jacob's Ladder in the evening. The baseball team and coaching staff ended the day doing some team-building on the ropes course.

I am grateful for all that the OU Baseball Team does for WSBR. Sunny Golloway serves on the board of the ranch and is a close friend of mine. I have known Sunny since he coached at Whittier Elementary in Norman back in the early 90's. WSBR has been blessed to have two OU Baseball players volunteer at the ranch. PJ Sandivol is a former player who has served as a relief house parent with his wife, Jacqi, before moving back to California. This year, Stephan Pourlier has volunteered the entire summer at Willow Springs and Jacob's Ladder doing whatever needed to be done. He also spent one week volunteering to spend some one on one time with a young man at the ranch. I appreciate the impact that the Sooners have on WSBR! Thank you players and coaches for another great day today! I appreciate your help, your hearts, and your character!

Willow Springs Boys Ranch Fall Newsletter 2008
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You Have Our Attention, Lord
A prayer by Max Lucado - October 2008

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing

This scares us. This bailout with billions.
These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous -
"Going Broke!" "Going Down!" "Going Under!" "What's Next?"

What is next?

We're listening. And we're admitting: You were right.

You told us this would happen.
You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, You warned.
Money will love you and leave you.
Don't put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.

You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.

We were wrong to spend what we didn't have.
Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor.
Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn't. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are You taking it?

We're listening. And we're praying.
Could you make something good out of this mess?

Of course You can. You always have.
You led slaves out of slavery,
Built temples out of ruins,
Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.
This disorder awaits your order. So do we.

Through Christ,
Amen

2 Corinthians 5:21

Sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong
being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God. The Christian
religion bases everything on the positive, radical nature of sin.
Other religions deal with sins; the Bible alone deals with sin. The
first thing Jesus Christ faced in men was the heredity of sin, and it
is because we have ignored this in our presentation of the Gospel
that the message of the Gospel has lost its sting and its blasting
power.

The revelation of the Bible is not that Jesus Christ took upon
Himself our fleshly sins, but that He took upon Himself the heredity
of sin which no man can touch. God made His own Son to be sin that He
might make the sinner a saint. All through the Bible it is revealed
that Our Lord bore the sin of the world by identification, not by
sympathy. He deliberately took upon His own shoulders, and bore in
His own Person, the whole massed sin of the human race - "He hath
made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin," and by so doing He put
the whole human race on the basis of Redemption. Jesus Christ
rehabilitated the human race; He put it back to where God designed it
to be, and anyone can enter into union with God on the ground of what
Our Lord has done on the Cross.

A man cannot redeem himself; Redemption is God's "bit," it is
absolutely finished and complete; its reference to individual men is
a question of their individual action. A distinction must always be
made between the revelation of Redemption and the conscious
experience of salvation in a man's life.

Daily Reading of My Upmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

I am excited about Jeff Woods new release: RAW WOOD. Jeff has started his own record label and also has a worship album and a Christmas Album.

Jeff is a good friend of mine and a friend of Willow Springs Boys Ranch. One of the highlights at the ranch each year is Jeff showing up with his guitar at the WSBR Christmas Celebration. His song, You're Never Too Old For Santa Claus is a ranch favorite.

Jeff Wood Records has designated a portion of the proceeds from sales to two charities: Willow Springs Boys Ranch and Wes Welker's 83 Foundation. Not only will you purchasing some of your new favorite music, you will be investing in two worthwhile charities. Where else can you do that? Click below to read the press release from Jeff Wood Records and get Jeff Wood's three new cd's.

For purchasing CD's and/or merchandise go to: JeffWoodRecords.com

The summing up of Our Lord's teaching is that the relationship which
He demands is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural
work in us. Jesus Christ demands that there be not the slightest
trace of resentment even suppressed in the heart of a disciple when
he meets with tyranny and injustice. No enthusiasm will ever stand
the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing
will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone
through the mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one
purpose left - I am here for God to send me where He will. Every
other thing may get fogged, but this relationship to Jesus Christ
must never be.

The Sermon on the Mount is not an ideal, it is a statement of what
will happen in me when Jesus Christ has altered my disposition and
put in a disposition like His own. Jesus Christ is the only One Who
can fulfil the Sermon on the Mount.

If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must he made disciples
supernaturally; as long as we have the dead set purpose of being
disciples we may be sure we are not. "I have chosen you." That is the
way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we cannot get away
from; we can disobey it, but we cannot generate it. The drawing is
done by the supernatural grace of God, and we never can trace where
His work begins. Our Lord's making of a disciple is supernatural. He
does not build on any natural capacity at all. God does not ask us to
do the things that are easy to us naturally; He only asks us to do
the things we are perfectly fitted to do by His grace, and the cross
will come along that line always.

My Upmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers September 25th

As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of our founder, John Kirkpatrick, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and the Oklahoma City Community Foundation is offering the John Kirkpatrick Centennial Endowment Challenge, a matching grant program for charitable organizations and scholarship endowment funds who wish to participate.

Through the Challenge, we are offering a dollar-for-dollar matching grant of up to $5,000 for contributions made to your endowment at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation between February 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. That is a possible $10,000 increase to each fund. Contributions made by individuals, foundations and corporate donors will qualify for the match. Willow Springs Boys Ranch is participating in the Challenge. Please click on the link to participate. For more information, please contact Gayle Farley at 606-2910 or Kenneth Conklin at 606-2926.

Jacob's Ladder Camps had Chamber of Commerce weather today. A total of 12 guys from 4 different churches partcipated: Henderson Hills Baptist Church, West Moore Community Church, First Presbyterian of Edmond, and Skyline Church of OKC. We also had two guys from Houston here today.

Trim was installed in the gym. 6 hours of mowing on the camp play-field and ropes course areas. Two full loads of tree limbs were pruned and hauled off. Two low ropes course elements got a face lift. All of the sheeting was installed on bunk cabins #5 and #6. The camp looks awesome!!! Also this weekend we had a Father-Son Camp Out from HHBC. Tomorrow First Presbyterian of Edmond has their Confirmation Class come out for a day on the ropes course.Bunk House # 7 became a reality today by a generous gift from Steve Hurst. We will start construction as soon as Bunk House #8 is funded. There are two cabins on a pad. Bunk #5 has been made possible by Cornerstone Surgery Centers, Foundations Health Care, Until All Have Heard Foundation, and MedDevelop. Bunk #6 has been made possible by a generous gift by the Derrick Prentice Family. Bunks #1-4 have been funded by Commercial Brick Corporation.

JL's goal is to have the funds for the remaining 7 bunkhouse cabins funded or pledged by the end of 2008. We are half way there! The purpose of Jacob's Ladder Camps is to help fund the mission of Willow Springs Boys Ranch. JL is also an employment opportunity for the WSBR boys where they can learn work ethic, responsibility, and character development.

Thank you to all you guys who extravagantly gave of your time and resources today on all of these projects! God is a work! And so are so many of you who invest in WSBR and Jacob's Ladder. Thank you for investing your lives in this mission. Words can not express my appreciation. Thank you for the legacy that you are building at Willow Springs Boys Ranch!

I have trouble being a Living Sacrifice. The problem is, Living Sacrifices often climb off the alter. I wander off and do my own thing. Or do God's thing my own way. God is the One who is at work. He is funding the projects here at WSBR and Albania. It is not natural for me to be concerned for the needs of Albania. I am swimming in daily and monthly needs of our own here at WSBR. But when my focus is on others and God, amazingly our needs are supplied. I got a phone call this morning from a friend that said that God had specifically put WSBR on his mind and he wanted to help. This happened with a 4 color newsletter, a banquet dinner, or a telemarketing campaign. I had never talked to this person about getting involved in what we do at the ranch. It was God prompting him to get involved in what God was already doing.

We are called to be available and obedient to God, for His good works and His glory. I am praying for God to show up. When He does, He gets the credit. When I show up, I tend to take credit for things that I played a very little part in. God is supplying ALL our needs,...here at the ranch and for what He is doing in Albania. All of these events today have been a good reminder of where I play my security.

LUKE 9:1-3
1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.

LUKE 9:23-2523 And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?